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MKtOCOrv nsOWTION TBT CHAIT 
 
 lANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 
 
 A APPLIED MytOB In. 
 
 1633 Cait Uoin SIrsct 
 
 Rochnlir. Ntw York UG09 USA 
 
 (716) *83 -0300 - Phone 
 
 (716) 2U- asas - Foi 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 Hon. David Mills, K.C. 
 
 AT H.GHGATE. ONTARIO. CANADA. 
 
 Wednesday, August 28th, ,901 
 
Mr. Mills' Address. 
 
 From t/ie LmdoH f C.IHa,ia ) .Uverli'er. 
 
 The Hon. David Mills, KX., Minister of Justice of tlie 
 Dominion of Canada, delivered the followinf; address at 
 Hifihgatc, Ontario, Canada, .August 28th, 1901, Mr. ^[ills 
 was in good form and held the close attention of his intelli- 
 gent audience, which included many ladies. On being 
 introduced by the chairman, the Minister of Justice was 
 enthusiastically received. He said : 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,— Several years 
 have gone by smce I had the honor of adressing a meeting in 
 this place. One of the last occasions upon which I spoke to 
 you was when the country was agitated because the Govern- 
 ment of Canada had failed to disallow an act passed by the 
 Legislature of Quebec, known as the Jesuit's Estate Act On 
 that occasion I felt it my duty to defend the course taken by 
 the administration, although I was not a supporter of the 
 government. It was impossible to successfully attack what 
 w'as then made the subject of censure, without assuming that 
 the principals of parliamentary government were not to 
 have ful play m the provinces, in matters of purely 
 provincial concern. The views which I then expressed 
 were such as I believed were called for, both by the letter and 
 spirit of our constitution. I felt assured that the agitation 
 which was then awakened was without any foundation moral 
 or constitutional, upon which it could permanently rest. My 
 convictions have been verified, and long since this question 
 has ceased to be a disturbing factor in public affairs. 
 
 1 5' u'^','1'^" ^''^^' changes have taken place in the person- 
 nel of the House of Commons, and in the political complexion 
 of the Senate. For a long time after I became a member of 
 the House of Commons this township continued to be a part 
 of the electoral division of Bothwell, and during the whole of 
 that period, the Reformers, who constituted more than two- 
 thirds of the electors, intrusted me with their confidence I 
 need not say to you that I valued that confidence most highly 
 and it was my aim then, as it has been since, to endeavor to 
 
counties in one constituency, aim >" i- , ,^ 
 
 legislate an unpopular party into power. But after 
 
 CENSUS OF 188I 
 
 . ■ ,_ ► 1,-^ .h,. leaders of the Conservative party threw 
 had been taken, '"e,'^'"'^', ;' ' L, uuo„ which both parties 
 aside the understanding had n.87-j^ponwn P^^^ ^^ 
 
 then relied, as much so as ;f it hj"! been »" g V .^ 
 our federal constitution. The government a^ ^^._^^^ ^^^ 
 
 administration a ma^ony in Je Com^on.^^^l^^.^^^ .^ y ^. 
 to the County of Middlesex^yy^.^^^^^ .^ ^^^ 
 
 in the election of 89^ the Ketor ^.^^ ^^^.^ opponents 
 
 aggregate a '"»J°fr ° reoScntatives. This proceeding was 
 
 Sirn^d'diSS^^^^ 
 
 "p„., Had -trol o^^^^^^^^^^^^ ra^iyfurther 
 
 STsfoir;|etheaaa^ a.^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 our success m the g^""al election ^^^-^^^^^^^..^y je- 
 
 proposed to transfer the work of 
 
 CONSTITUTINC. THK CONSTITUENCIES 
 to judges of eminence not l«cau. -^-f °XtseT; 
 
5 
 
 by depriving ourselves of any political advantage in the mat- 
 ter. W'c were unable even with th.'s concession to secure the 
 support of any op.^oncnt of the Kovernmcnt in the senate. 
 We knew that pai ., 'tcMng was there very intense. \Vc knew 
 that the Senate pr laimed theinselvet a non-partisan bod\-. 
 They may have persuaded themselves, that, as there was a 
 redistribution of seats only once in ten years, there could only 
 once in ten years be a readjustment of the boundaries of 
 constituencies; and so if parliament had used its authority, 
 and cimmitted an injustice, no matter how great, it must 
 continue until another census was taken and another readjust- 
 ment was called for under the express provisions of our con- 
 stitution. I need not say to you that this \iew was prepos- 
 terous, and wa:. without the shadow of authority to support 
 It. H}- the census we ascertain the number of representatives 
 to which each province, for the succeeding ten years, is on- 
 titled; but this does not prevent parliament, if it were so 
 inclined, from readjusiing the boundaries of the constituencies 
 whenever it may think the public interest calls for any 
 amendment in the representation The census enables us to 
 fix the niimber of representatives to which each province is 
 entitled in the House of Commons; it does nothing more. 
 Our census will soon be completed. The population of each 
 ,)K)\ince will, I trust, be accurately shown. Our represcnta- 
 iinn m accordance with the law and the facts will be rcadjust- 
 i>l. i confiflently hope that the measure of redistribution 
 will be a 
 
 I'KkKF.CTI.V K.MR .MK.VL'KK, 
 
 based upon the inviolaK;ity of county boundaries, and subject 
 to this, upon the principle of representation by population. 
 I trust there will be no compromises with these accepted 
 principles in the interest of some supposed strong candidate. 
 The Reform party are strong so long as they stand up for 
 svhat IS just and proper, but if there is to be a departure from 
 accepted dc rincs, it had better be left to our political 
 opponents who did the .vroiig before. There may be some 
 who think it wise to imitate them, am! lo follow their ex- 
 ample. I am not of that opinion. There is great strength in 
 standing up for the right. It is an immense source of strength 
 to a public man when the people believe that he is unswerv- 
 ingly devoted to what is fair and ju.' d when they believe 
 he will not deviate from the course ,o marked out merely 
 because some candidate on his own side is persuaded himself. 
 
or han endcavore.1 to pcrsua.lc others that if >v.u will depart 
 from a "ound rule for his sake, your chances of succes, will be 
 Im^r.*^ I-et me say, that if that succesH could be made 
 &t^y certain, it would be altogether too dearly pur- 
 ?h"ed by such a course, becaune it is purchased by causing 
 ?he puWU: to distrust your honesty ; and secondly, because in 
 doln^ so, you weaken the confidence of men with whom 
 moral considerations are paramount, and who "-""'d °»»'"- 
 wise on this ground alone, have supported you^ I trust 
 rhereforc. when we are called upon to deal with this subjec 
 we shall lo so thoroughly, and by parliament ,alo"'=. «'''^°"« 
 any extrinsic aid, and .vitho.it deviating a hair's breadth from 
 ?he principle to which we are committed, and to which, and 
 not to any caricature of it, the public sanction has been given^ 
 This is practical ,x>litics in the best sense, because ,t is the 
 honest course to ake. I trust tha' the representation wil be 
 made perfectly fair and perfectly just, and thU it shall not be 
 given W any others than those to whom it rightfully belongs. 
 It is little short of monstrous to adopt any other rule, 
 and it will be the duty of the electorate of the country to see 
 that thole principles for which the Liberal party have long 
 contendel.'^hich the country has in two -c«»'-,«''f !°- 
 sanctioned, are carried into effect according to their true 
 tntenrnd meaning. I have said now, gentlemen, all I pro- 
 pose sayTng on thif subject of redistribution at the present 
 Sme. I hfve only called your attention to the abuse and to 
 the remedy which Reformers have long advocated, and it is 
 for ^ou to see that the redress given is fair and honest and 
 th»t for which we have long contended, and not something 
 Xetherdifferent-acariclture or that which the country 
 had a right to expect. 
 
 Territorially Canada is one of the most extensive countries 
 in Christendom, and it is our business to make it so far as 
 we can in wealth and in population, commensurate with its 
 Territorial dimensions. The problem is one of B«at ""P°rt- 
 ance and it ought to receive the most serious consideration 
 a? the hands of the people and their representatives. We 
 have in Canada great resources which require development. 
 We have to consider how this development can best be pro- 
 moted, how our mines can be made most P^o^f «■«• a""*""' 
 fertUe ands to yield the largest amount °f°°<ij°'^^°^^^^° 
 occupy them, and for the markets of the United Kingdom. 
 
CK.NMs RKTl RNS |)|-.AI'l'ulNTINl,, 
 There i» no denying the fact that the census returns fur 
 the past decade have proved disapiwintinu to our iieoplc • 
 but this disappointment is in a larKc measure, due to expec- 
 tations that were founded ujKin mere conjecture. Our people 
 were certainly emigrating from the country in large numbers 
 during the first half of this decennial pcriml. Our commerce 
 was very nearly statioiiiiry. and this, it is reasonable to assume 
 was due to the fact that a large percentage of our population' 
 was drawn away frcm their place of nativity to the iHigh- 
 boiiiig republic. For the previous twelve years there was 
 but httlc variation in the volume of our exports and imports 
 The census shows that the population of Canada was in 
 April last 5,338,8X3, and the increase, including both the 
 .-.atural increase of population and its Incret ie by immigration 
 is but 505,644. Now the natural increase of our population 
 ought to have made the pop.-lation of Canada, without any 
 addition from abroad, 5438. o ; and if we count on an immi- 
 gration of 25,000 a year, th would have added during the 
 decade 250,000 more ; so that our census, according to a vers' 
 moderate calculation, might be expected to have shown a 
 population in Canada of 5,688,000. VVeP we are disap- 
 pointed. We have 350,000 short of this r iber, and it is 
 our duty to carefully consider the facts of which ihis 
 
 disappointment has arisen. Since 1896 Cai ..ua has enjoyed 
 an unusual degree of prosperity. Since then but few have 
 left the country. Our people readily go to the United States 
 becau.se their language and their institutions are similar to 
 our own. But there have been no causes operating to induce 
 our people to go abro.id. We have lost indeed but very few 
 of our population. This, however, was not the case during 
 the five years between the .summers of 1891 and i8g6 when 
 there must have g&.ne from the country a number equal to all 
 we received from abroad, and, I think, not less than 50,000 a 
 year beside. This was a tremendous drain to overcome. In 
 fact It was too great to be at once obliterated, and it is due 
 to the prosperity which has attended the country during the 
 past five years that so great an exodus has left so few traces 
 of evil behind it. 
 
 KN(;|..\NT) AND GER.MANV. 
 
 The natural increase in England, after the emigration 
 IS deducted, is shown to be 12 per cent, for the decade In 
 Germany it is 14 per cent. Both the percentage of England 
 
8 
 
 and of Germany would be increased were there no emigration. 
 It is not too much to say that the emigration reduces the 
 increase of the population, in each country, by at least one 
 per cent It may be by even more. The natural mcrease ol 
 the German population is about i% per cent, a year, and in 
 England it is slightly less. Making due allowance then for 
 the migratory character of our population, which no doubt 
 postpones the time of marriage here to a period a little later 
 than in Germany, or in England, we may affirm that the 
 natural increase of our population will, from this cause alone, 
 be less than it is in England or in Germany, yet it ought here 
 to be not less than I % per cent, yearly amongst our English- 
 speaking people, and lyi per cent, among the trench popu- 
 lation in the rural districts of Quebec. -So that it was quite 
 natural that we should look for a more favorable showing 
 than the one that the census returns present. 
 
 I'Ol'ULATION OF ONTARIO. 
 The population for the Province of Ontario, by the 
 census taken in April last, is 2,167,978. which is but 53.657 
 more than it was ten years ago, instead of being , as might 
 have been anticipated, 2,385.317. without counting any immi- 
 gration at all. It is too soon yet to ascertain how the popu- 
 lation of Canada, west of the Province of Ontario, is made 
 up or to determine the sources of its growth ; but if we were 
 to ' credit Ontario with having added 40,000 to Manitoba, 
 40000 to the Territories, and 30,000 to British Columbia, 
 16? 000 of her natural increase would be accounted for, 
 leaving still 100,000 that must, at some time during the 
 decade, have found their way across the border. Of course, 
 this estimate is the merest conjecture on my part. Ihe 
 number of Onta-io people who have gone to the west may 
 be in excess of this e.stimate. It may be that the estimate is 
 too large ; but however this may be, there is but little room to 
 doubt that from 1891 until 1896 a largenumberof our people 
 left the country. The natural increase ought to be about 
 27 1 000 of whom it would seem 2 1 8,000 have left the province. 
 It is to be hoped that the census, when carefully examined, 
 will show that many of these are still in the country. We 
 shall know at an early day the number that have gone from 
 each of the eastern provinces to the Territories, to Manitoba 
 and to British Columbia, and we shall then be better able to 
 consider the full meaning and force of the lessons which maj' 
 be learned from the census. 
 
There are several matters to which it has become vry 
 important that we should give careful attention. There can 
 be no doubt that there have gone from the provinces a suffi- 
 cient number of our people to Anglicise a much larger foreign 
 population than we have yet received. We are quite safe in 
 continuing to direct our attention to the continent of Europe 
 as well as to the parent country for large additions to our 
 population. It IS said that in many parts of England, at the 
 present time, the agricultural population remaining is none 
 too large for the proper cultivation of the soil : that the 
 great growth of the towns and cities has furnished oppor- 
 tunities for the employment, almost at the doors of the rural 
 population for their children and young people, and the 
 result has been that boys and girls, young men and women, 
 instead of continuing in rural pursuits, have been drawn into 
 the manufacturing towns and cities, until the rural popula- 
 tion at the present time is scarcely adequate to meet the re- 
 quirements of the agricultural districts. In fact, the value o( 
 larm labor has, m consequence, increased, and large districts 
 that were formerly cultivated are now devoted to pasture. 
 There has been during the last ten years a marked 
 
 UROWTH IN F.WOR OF I.MI'KKI.M, UNITY. 
 
 Whether the pendulum may not oscillate in the opposite 
 direction will depend to some extent, on what we may do 
 here, and a good deal on what may be done in the United 
 Kingdom. I have no doubt that that those who have pre- 
 dicted the diientegration of the empire will regard the 
 dissappomtments which many will feel at the result of the 
 census as a favorable opportunity to decry the growth of this 
 sentiment, and to repeat to us the fate of the frog that en- 
 deavored to become as big as the ox. 1 am disappointed 
 that our increase of population was not greater, I am not 
 discouraged in consequence. I am sure that we possess those 
 elements of growth which are necessary to political greatness 
 and strength. I know that if we retain a strong moral fiber in 
 the character of our people, if our government is conducted 
 with prudence and honesty, if our people are imbued with a 
 proper public spirit, that neither envy abroad nor detraction 
 at home can, m the end, prevent the realization of our hope. 
 
 IM.MKNSK ACKICLI.TURAI. ,\RE.\. 
 
 We have to-day, many times over, a larger area of excel- 
 
lent agricultural land still unoccupied than in all the rest of 
 North America. We have to-day the opportunities and the 
 attractive forces that were possessed by our neighbors between 
 1835 and 1865. We trust ours will be as useful in contribut- 
 ing to the rapid growth of settlement in Ca.iada as theirs were 
 to the rapid growth of settlements in the valley of Mississippi. 
 I would indeed be sorry to put any restraints upon the rest- 
 lessness and cnterprize which carries the peopleof the United 
 Kingdom into all the waste places of the earth They go 
 forth to better their own fortunes, to engage in trade and 
 commerce, to convert predatory tribes of men in Africa, and 
 in Asia, into legitimate traders, and to impress upon them the 
 advantages to be derived from the security of lile and pro- 
 perty from depredation by wandering marauders, and by 
 changing these into a fixed and law abiding population. 
 They have trained multitudes into more industrious habits 
 and have taught them to put more confidence in the value of 
 upright dealing than they had before l<nown. As long as the 
 world was being reduced by their labor from chaos to order, 
 and from a state of violence to one of peace, a useful work was 
 being done, but it is now necessary to turn the attention ot 
 Englishmen in another diiection. We have at present a great 
 territorial empire, with but little prospect of future growth by 
 further expansion. It means a great deal to them that the 
 existing possesions should become populous and wealthy. 
 What is to be done with the empire? How are its wealth and 
 population to be increased? How is greater security to be 
 given to the life and property within its borders in order that 
 its commerce may continue to grow? In our ca.se I am sure 
 that numbers of well-informed and public-spirited people will 
 afford to us the best security for our advancement. At the 
 present time there are in the world about 120,000,000 ol 
 people speaking the English language. Nearly one-halt ot 
 this number is in the British Empire ; the others are in the 
 United States. The United States have now within their 
 borders about 63,000,000 of white men speaking the English 
 language. The growth of the republic is now largely the 
 growth of a city population. Their progress by immigration, 
 in the nature of things, cannot be so rapid m the future as 
 in the past. There are parts of the British Empire which 
 present far more inviting fields for the settlement of an 
 agricultural population. There is no reason why those m the 
 British Empire of the whjte race, speaking the English 
 tongue should not overtake the white population of the 
 
ENGLISHMEN SHOULD KAVOR CANADA 
 
 dom. by adversely criticising its public policy H^ 1.1 ^^; 
 ™ag„i?y so.e ;ues[[ro7dt:;re:X'rf o°; does^^xlf 
 
 fortunes without any V sk of the n^."//"^^" T", P"'^°"^' 
 attributes to British sLtesLnM ^ ? ^'"^ ^'°^^"- "^ 
 
 done and for e:!::' ^::^;^:-:^:^;- ^::7 1 
 
 right ^tharhis",r '' '"" ^"^">- P-^-de hImseTf That he is 
 
 a^s;i;::e^:K^---^-j.e^i^ 
 
13 
 
 of these suspicions ; so that I fear there is little prospect of 
 friendly co-operation between the two sections of the great 
 Anglo-Saxon family, until some overpowering necessity 
 presses it upon our neighbors. 1 greatly regret that this is 
 so ; the world would certainly be better off if more generous 
 sentiri:ents prevailed, and more friendly relations were estab- 
 lished; but the disregard for public law, unde- the name of the 
 Monroe doctrine, is a declared menace to our sovereign rights. 
 So we must consider the facts as they are, and not simply as 
 we would like to have them: and we must not forget that it is 
 not in our power to uphold our rights, and to maintain our 
 self-respect, and at the same time do mucn to in.urove these 
 relations. It is for this reason true, that British statesmen 
 practically take side < ngainst their own country who do not 
 endeavor to turn the emmigration from the United Kingdom 
 towards other British possessions, otherwise the British 
 emmigrant goes abroad to increase the wealth and population 
 of the country whose convictions are hostile, and who will 
 turn the descendants of these men into currents that will be 
 unfriendly to British interests hereafter. British statesmen 
 should remember that there is as much required from the 
 United Kingdom as from other parts of the Empire, to pro- 
 mote imperial unity. 
 I hr.ve 
 
 NO SVMPATllV 
 
 with those who are calling upon the Imperial parliament to 
 burden the people of the United Kingdom for our benefit: to 
 put impediments in the way of their commercial srrowth to 
 help us, but they should consider how inuch the empire will 
 be strengthened by the increase of wealth and population of 
 the colonies: how the development of their mineral resources, 
 and the increase of their numbers would do vastly mor to 
 give to it prosperity, peace and security than could be 
 accompli-shed by directing their population and wealth into 
 regions whose people believe that nothing good ever emanates 
 from the United Kingdom. 
 
 Experience has shown that the inferences in respect to 
 commercial affairs, ctut of which the indifference of British 
 statesmen has arisen, are altogether erroneous. I do not say 
 that England has not prospered luider her policy of free trade. 
 I do not say that the principles of free trade are not econom- 
 ically sound I think they-are; but it is not true that other 
 nations are likely soon to accept them, and to act upon them. 
 
of pmMion .„ i„, „M ,„ '„2T,„ to£ L „. rfi 
 
 BRITAIN'S INKI.UENCE 
 
 policy, based upon what is' Vm^u^iJ' ^^^ thrrkTrtv'o? 
 
 S:u,.^ir -:,S^^-- --- -.in. 
 
 Ontario who desire more room, and who wo„[d TeT'th '" 
 possessions in this province to acquire a CeTarea fo th^^' 
 selves and their sons upon the\rairies '^rthT NorthweTt' 
 
■4 
 
 Many small farms will admit of much more intensive cultiva- 
 Ton than has yet been given them, and by the necessary 
 skiUed labor their products could be enormously mcreased. 
 There are ordinary tradesmen, bricklayer,, masons black 
 smiths and carpenters, for whom there is no room. Ifweadd 
 l^ooo to thc'^agricultural population of our territories an- 
 nually. we could diffuse among them 20,000 of the 'rla.ses 1 
 have mentioned. It is of great consequence that this should 
 be done and by this large addition from the British Islands 
 we could venture upon securing a very much larger number 
 from the continent of Europe than w-e have hitherto obtained 
 for we could more readily convert them into a people w h 
 British ideas and British tendencies, by makmg them early 
 acquainted with our language, and by so opening to them the 
 literature of England w? would enable them to acquire our 
 habits of thought and expression and thus become an insep- 
 arable part of our population. 
 
 If there is to be, as it is in the interests of mankind there 
 should be, a 
 
 (IREAT BRITISH EMPIRE, 
 teaching men to love freedom, to seek truth, to hate falsehood 
 and oppression, and ready to make some sacrifices for he 
 common good, the people of the United Kingdom must 
 themselves become interested in its accomplishment. The 
 breezes which now tend to carry us from all parts of the 
 British dominions into the same harbor may again sleep, and 
 m? ' not afford, for a long time to come, so favorable an 
 oppor.unity of being drawn together. I do not suggest any 
 written constitution. 1 do not propose any compact. What 
 I suggest is a friendly understanding, friendly co-operation 
 for lommon purposes, voluntarily undertaken. Common 
 enterprises for the common good, common dangers to be 
 guarded against, will determine better, through the lapse of 
 Ime what the constitution of the British Empire should be, 
 than any statesman, however wise or cautious, can do at the 
 present time. I purposed to have discussed fully the subject 
 of copyright as a matter of controversy between ourselves and 
 the British Government. It is too large and too important a 
 question not to discuss fully. Our right of self-government 
 is involved, and we cannot treat the subject as otherwise than 
 important, and to-night I shall pass it by. 
 
15 
 
 The chair was occupied by Mr. J. G. Crosby, and on the 
 platform or in the audience, besides the minister of justice, 
 were Messrs. J. A. Walker. K.C., of Chatham ; John Cameron, 
 London Advertiser ; Walter Mills, of Ridgetown ; D. Camp- 
 bell, London ; Henry Watson, Rev. Charles Crichton, E. B. 
 Mills, Palmyra ; Jonah Gosnell, e.x-warden ; Ed. Beattie, 
 George Reycraft, James Tape, Thomas Lee, John D. Gillis, 
 R. C. Scott, Jos. Hornal, H. C. Foster, Frederick Scott, Peter 
 Curr, Alex. McTavish, A. J. Gillis, Charles McLaren, James 
 Attridge, John Brosnaham, Samuel Gosnell, D. T. Gillis, 
 Daniel Mills, Thos. Mickle, James Stevenson, of Ekfrid ; 
 Lawrence Tape, and many other prominent residents of the 
 district.